Psychological thrillers: my top 5 reads

Since I started university, I’ve really gotten into reading again. After a long day on campus, I love to run a hot bubbly bath and read a good book in there. I particularly enjoy psychological thrillers as I love their tense, twisty stories. I’ve read several books over the past year or so, and many have been utterly magnificent. I wanted to share my favourites here to give you a chance to discover them too!

• Behind Closed Doors by B A Paris. This book is about a seemingly perfect marriage. Jack and Grace appear to have it all – the wealth, the love, the looks… Jack is also fantastic with Grace’s sister, who has Down Syndrome. However it’s not long before we realise things are very far from perfect, and deep secrets lie within the walls of their house. Will anyone discover what is really happening in their relationship before it’s too late? This book made me feel so claustrophobic and tense – but I was completely hooked! I had to physically put it down a few times as it was just so suffocating, but it was all worth it for the captivating ending. It really shows that appearances can be incredibly deceiving. You go on an emotional journey with Grace during this book, and you’ll feel drained afterwards. The way it’s been crafted is so exquisite that I couldn’t not put it on this list!

 

• Follow You Home by Mark Edwards. Daniel and Laura are travelling across Europe on a final big adventure before settling down to start a family. They’re having a fantastic time until they get to Romania, where they discover something utterly dreadful which threatens to destroy their entire relationship. Furthermore, once they’re home in London they find the horror that haunted them in Romania has followed them home. There were SO many twists in this book that I didn’t see coming, and it will have you cheering some characters on while cursing others! You also really don’t know who to trust (even after the final pages!) whilst reading this book, so it’s a must if you want to go on a real adventure whilst reading. It does contain some very dark, troubling themes so it’s far from being a light read, but it sucks you in and makes you feel like you’re part of all the action.

 

• The Girl You Lost by Kathryn Croft. Kathryn Croft is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I’d read some of her previous books, which were excellent, but none gripped me quite like this. Simone and Matt’s baby daughter Grace went missing 18 years ago and hasn’t been seen since. They’re still hurting, but they have rebuilt their lives and their relationship is stronger than ever. So when a girl shows up claiming to be Grace, how will this affect things? More importantly, is this the real Grace? This book was utterly heartbreaking as you really felt for numerous characters. Like Follow You Home, it has some very dark themes which make it an incredibly tense, and at times troubling, read. If you like books which keep you guessing, this is a must read as the twists carry on until the very end. This book will make you really empathise for the characters involved in this twisted, tragic tale – even characters you hated at first.

 

• Because She Loves Me by Mark Edwards. I just couldn’t resist including another Mark Edwards book on this list! I read this quite recently, and really enjoyed it. Andrew has had a spell of quite bad luck, but when he meets the charming and beautiful Charlie, it seems that everything is looking up. However it’s not long before his bad luck returns. Charlie reveals a jealous streak, and terrible things start happening to the people around him. He suspects Charlie is responsible, but could this really be the case? This book kept me guessing until the very end, but it reaches a very satisfying ending after such a tumultuous tale. I did find one of the twists to be a little bit out of the blue, but I suppose that’s the joy of reading a psychological thriller – the best twists are the ones that you don’t see coming!

 

• You Sent Me a Letter by Lucy Dawson. Sophie is a happily engaged woman who is about to turn 40. One night when she’s sleeping, a mysterious figure comes in and hands her a letter, demanding that she opens it and reads it in front of everyone at her birthday party – or else her family will be hurt. We soon discover that Sophie has made a few mistakes, and as we are introduced to her family and friends, we’re left to wonder who would want her to suffer this much. Slowly, things start to make sense – until they don’t, and we are left guessing all over again! While some of the books I’ve mentioned reached quite neat endings, this left me with plenty of questions unanswered. That was part of the fun though, as I enjoyed speculating what could happen in Sophie’s future after I’d read the final page.

 

I hope this list has given you some good ideas for your next read. If you’ve read a great book that you’d love to rave about, I’d love to hear about it so please do write a comment!